United States Department of Agriculture Black Butte Wild and Scenic River including Cold Creek Comprehensive River Management Plan Forest Service Mendocino National Forest Covelo Ranger District March 2018 In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. 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Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: [email protected] . USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. We make every effort to create documents that are accessible to individuals of all abilities; however, limitations with our word processing programs may prevent some parts of this document from being readable by computer-assisted reading devices. If you need assistance with this document, please contact the Mendocino National Forest at 530-934-1100. Cover artwork provided by Krystel from Eel River Charter School, Grade 3 Contents Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................................. 1 Wild and Scenic River Location and Boundary ............................................................................ 1 Wild and Scenic River Classifications, Including Segments ........................................................ 1 Regional River Setting .......................................................................................................................... 4 Historic Flooding .............................................................................................................................. 4 Water Quality and Beneficial Uses ................................................................................................... 4 Land Use ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Special Uses ...................................................................................................................................... 6 General Access ................................................................................................................................. 6 Wild and Scenic River Emphasis and Values ....................................................................................... 6 Wild and Scenic River Management Area Emphasis ....................................................................... 6 Outstandingly Remarkable Values ................................................................................................... 7 Cultural or Heritage ....................................................................................................................... 7 Fish ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Geology ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Relationship to Laws, Regulations, Directives and the Forest Plan ...................................................... 9 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act .............................................................................................................. 9 Forest Service Manual- Comprehensive River Management Plan.............................................. 10 Forest Plan and Forest Plan Amendment .................................................................................... 10 Management Direction ........................................................................................................................ 11 Standards and Guides...................................................................................................................... 11 Prescription 10 (pp IV76-77, USDA Forest Service 1995) ......................................................... 11 Key Watersheds (pp. IV-41, USDA Forest Service 1995) .......................................................... 12 Strategic Management Approaches ................................................................................................ 13 Implementation Plan ........................................................................................................................... 13 Monitoring Plan .................................................................................................................................. 15 References ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Appendix A: Visitor Capacity Analysis for the Black Butte Wild and Scenic River ......................... 19 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Background ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Management Guidance ................................................................................................................ 20 Recreation Opportunity Spectrum ............................................................................................... 20 Current Conditions in the Wild and Scenic River .......................................................................... 21 Human Uses and River Values.................................................................................................... 21 Outstandingly Remarkable Values .............................................................................................. 22 Visitor Capacity .......................................................................................................................... 24 Capacity Estimates for Designated River Segments ................................................................... 26 Indicators, Thresholds, Potential Management Actions, and Monitoring Plan ........................... 30 Future Recreation Demand and Trends .......................................................................................... 33 Background: Past and Current Use ............................................................................................. 33 Future Demand ............................................................................................................................ 34 References ....................................................................................................................................... 34 Appendix B: Resource Assessment .................................................................................................... 37 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 37 Resource Assessment ...................................................................................................................... 37 Outstandingly Remarkable Values ................................................................................................. 37 Findings and Discussion of Values ................................................................................................. 38 Black Butte Wild and Scenic River including Cold Creek Comprehensive River Management Plan i Cultural – History ....................................................................................................................... 38 Cultural – Prehistory ................................................................................................................... 40 Cultural - Traditional Use ........................................................................................................... 41 Ecology/Botany ..........................................................................................................................